Suction cleaner



. lune 24, 19441. v. E. cARLsN l 2,246,837

sUcTIoN'cLEANER Filed peo. 23 1959- ATTO RN EY ering undergoingcleaning.

means preferably take the form of a rotary agi tator which embodiesrigidbeating elements and flexible brush elements. This agitator is usuallyPatented June 24, 1941 `s'Uc'rIoN CLEANER VernonE. Carlson, Canton,Ohio, assigner to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation01 Ohio Application December 23', 1939, Serial No.1310,743

3 Claims. (Cl. 15-183) The present invention relates to suction cleanersin general and particularly to a new and novel agitator for a suctioncleaner.

It is anobject of the present invention to provide a new and improvedsuction cleaner. vIt is another object of the invention to provide a newand improved rotary agitator for, a suction cleaner. A further object ofthe invention is to provide a rotary agitator for a suction cleanerembodying adjustable agitating elements of newl and improved design. Astill further object of the invention is to provide a rotary agitator inwhich. the brush elements are reversibly posif tioned by new and novelmeans. Still another object of the invention is' toprovide a rotaryagitator for a suction cleaner` in whichv helical brush elements areradially adjustable by re.

- pensate for thewear.

versing in a new and novel manner. ATheseand other more specific objectswill appear upon reading the following specification and claims 'anduponconsidering in connection 'therewith the attached drawing to whichthey, relate. i

Referring now to theA drawing in which a preferred embodiment of theinvention is disclosed:

Figure 1 is a front view of a suction cleaner constructed in accordancewith the present invention with the nozzle shownl in section toillustrate the rotary agitator positioned therein;

Figure 2 is a partial longitudinal section taken upon a helical planealong the brush seat and illustrates the helical agitator brushpositioned in the agitator in the inner radial or new brush" position;

Figure is a partialfsection on a helical plane similar to Figure 2 andillustrates the brush after being reversed and in theV outer radial orworn brush" position;

vFigure 4 Iis atop view of the brush element per se; V

Figure 5 -is a view in perspective of the adjacent brush end illustratedin Figure 4.

In the modern suction cleaner the cleaning effect of the air stream issupplemented by agitating means which are effective to dislodgetheembedded foreign material from the surfacecov- Such agitatingpositionedv within the cleaner nozzle where it can contact the surfacecovering which is lifted by the reduced pressure therein. The agitatorro- I tates and the covering is contacted by the rigid beating elementand by the flexible brush ele` ments. The former being of hard rigidmetal,

smooth and durable, does not wear and does change in radial extensionwhereas the latter. being of relatively soft ilexible fibers are subjectto decrease in radial extension with wear. Ac cordingly, means areprovided by which the brush Aelement can be radially Yadjusted to com-When the radial adjustment o`f the brush element becomes appreciablyless lthan that of the rigid beater element vthe cleaning effectivenessof the `brush element is greatly decreased. lAccording Ito the presentinvention a helical brush in an agitator has been provided whichincorporates new and novel means by which the brush element can bereversed end for end in its seat to give an increased radial extensionafter wear has madesuch an adjustment necessary.

, Referring again'to the drawing, a modern suction cleaner'isillustrated and is seen to comprise a nozzle l which is interiorlyconnected to a fan chamber' 2 which houses a suction-creating fan 3. Thelatter is carried upon the depending motor shaft 4 which is driven by anunshown motor positioned above the fan chamber 2 in a housing 5. vThecleaner is movably supported upon wheels 6 and, asin the usual cleanerconstruction, there is provideda handle I including bifurcated bail arms8 which extend downwardly at the sides of the motor casing 5 to bepivoted to the cleaner casing and by which the operator can propel themachine.

Positioned within the nozzle I is a rotary agitator the cylindrical bodyof which is indicated generally Vby the reference character I0. The bodyI0 is formed entrally with a reducedpulley portion II which seats avdriving belt I2 which is actuated and driven by the motor shaft 4. 3A

transversely extending supporting 'shaft It extends through the hollowinterior of agitator body vIii and is itself removably mounted in anywell known manner. within the end walls of thevnozzle I. `Shaft I4 isprovided at each of its ends with a reduced end I5 which is threaded'atits extremity. Upon each shouldered end I5 seats the inner race I6 of abearing Il, the outer race I8 of which carries a U-shaped cup or cap 20which at its outer side closely fits within and carries the cylindricalbody Ill of the agitator. e Cap 20. is formed with a peripheralfiange2l' which contacts the end oi body IIJ to limit the inward movement ofthe cap within the body. A thrust plate 23 is secured upon the innerside of the cap 20 and has a central opening sufficiently large topermit it to enclose the shaft Isl adjacent the reduced'end I5, andthere is pronot I vided a thrust washer 34 which abuts the contact plateand the outer race I8 of the bearing to maintain the bearing assembly inproper operating relationship. Suitable seals 25 enclose the inner raceit and extend between it and the inner face of the cap 2@ to provide asuitable protection for the bearing. The bearing is secured in place byan internally threaded nut member ,il which seats upon the threaded endof Vshaft id and forces the inner race it 'oi the bearing against 4theshoulder between Vreduced end l5 and the main portionof the shaft id.'Nut 31 at each end of the agitator also mounts a thread guard 2B whichextends' adjacent the agitator end and about the rim Zi of end cap 2d toprovide a protecting seal for the bearing.

The agitating elements of the agitator comprise elongated rigid beaterelements 3u which extend helically for substantially one half the4length of the agitator and are positioned upon opposite sides oi thepulley surface il and which are aligned with the helically extendingbrush elements 3l. The former are xedly and permanently secured as bywelding to the agitator body id, while the latter are removably andadjustably positioned within helically extending brush seats 32 in theagitator body. Each brush seat is preferably made of a separate helicalchannel-shaped piece of material permanently secured in place as tobecome a part of body I although it is to be understood thatpart of thebrush seat sides may be formed by the agitator body id itself. Eachbrush seat 32 extends helically upon the agitator, at the side of thesubstantially centrally located pulley i2, and substantiallydiametrically opposite to the rigid beater element 3.@ upon the sameside of the pulley.

Qn the bottom of each brush seat are a pair of upwardly extendingabutments 3d which rise above the level of the bottom of the brush seat,

as is clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3. At the inner end of each brushseat, that end adjacent the pulley il, are downwardly facing shoulderscomprising one or more spaced inner shoulders ofv low height, indicatedat 35, and a central higher or outer shoulder su. At the opposite orouter end of the 'brush seat is positioned a springpressed detent 38which is disclosed and claimed in the co-flled application Serial No.310,752 in the name of William H. Kitto and which ishis invention.Detent Se is carried by the end cap 2d and is at al1 times urgedinwardly into the brush seat through the opening 39 in the brush sea-tend wall. The underside of the operative face of the detent 38 is slopedupwardly and outwardly while the upper side thereof is slightly concavein a manner to enable itto receive and seat the edge of a tool by whichit can be forced inwardly into the end cap and from the brush seat.

The removable agitator brush 3l is, of course, helical, being adapted toseatwithin the helical brush seat 32. It comprises an elongated helicalback di from which extend a plurality of brush tufts d2, the outer endsof which also describe a helix and which are of a curvature such thatwhen the brush is positioned within the agitator brush seat 32 the outersurface of the brush tufts d2 lie in a cylinder which is concentric tothe cylindrical body I0 and which has a greater radius than that body.At one end of the brush back il is a transversely extending shoulder 4lof substantiallyv the width of the brush back itself. At the oppositeend ofthe back 4l are spacedv shoulders l5 which lower upon the brushback than the shoulder d4 at the opposite end, and between shoulders 65is a centrally located shoulder higher than shoulders 45 which isindicated by the reference character 'i8 and which has a height on thebrushback which is greater than the height of the shouldersult by adistance which is equal to that separating shoulders 35,

l bottom of the brush seat, although such need not be the case.Abutments 58, d8 are so positioned uponthe brush back that, with thebrush positioned in the brush seat, as illustrated in Figure 2, that is,the new brush position, the abutments d8, do extend at the sides of theabutments 34 and not in contact therewith. In the reversed brushposition, however, that illustrated in Figure 3, the abutments d8 and 3sare in alignment and contact. This is accomplished by spacing the pairsof abutments 34 and the pairs of abutments de equally, and alsoofi-center relative to the longitudinal axis of the seat and brush,respectively. 1

The positioning and radial adjustment of the 'agitator brush in theagitator constructed in accordance with the present invention is asfollows: If a new brush is being inserted, that is, a brush havingbristles ci? maximum length, the brush will be positioned as illustratedin Figure 2. The lower wide shoulder 44 will underlie the abuttingshoulders 35, the downwardly extending abutments 4S on the underside ofthe brush back.

will not contact the abutments 34 on the bottom of the brush seat 32,and the inner end of the detent 33 will contact the upper central brushshoulder 6b. The brush will then be used until the bristle length hasbeen decreased so that its radial extension ls less than the radialextension of the beater elements 36 at which time it will be necessary,in order to renew the usefulness of the brush elements, to readjust thebrushes. to'give to them their original bristle extension. This isaccomplished by manually pushing the spring-pressed detent 38, by asuitable tool such as a screw driver, outwardly and into the agitatorcap 26. Thereafter the brush can be moved radially outward, the sectionof the brush seat which receives the brush back vil being sufcientlywider than that element to permit of the necessary sliding movement.drawn from the brush seat the agitator brush element 3l is reversedendfor end and is then reinserted radially into the brush seat in whichposition the lower shoulders d5 upon the brush back underlie the lowershoulders 35 at the inner end ofthe brush seat, the intermediateshoulder 4S between shoulders 45 passing up and into contact with theupper shoulder 36 on' the brush back. The downwardly extending abutments48 at the bottom of the brush n'ow seat upon the upwardlyextendingabutments 34 in the brush seat, and it is clear that the radial positionofthe brush element has been changed and that the brush back is nowpositionedv radially outwardly a distance beyond that which it Vformerlyheld and which is equal to the height `of the abutment elements 34. Theouter end of the brush is contacted by After being withthe detent 38which the operator permits to move linwardly to overlie the shoulder. Inthis second position the brush back and so the brus'hA bristles havebeen adjusted radially outwardly and the agitator has been restored toits original efciency.

I claim:

1. A rotary agitator for a suction cleaner comprising a cylindrical bodyadapted for rotation on said body and said element to retain saidelement against outward4 radial displacement from said seat. y

2. A rotary agitator for a suction cleaner comprising a cylindrical bodyadapted-for rotation about its major axis, an helically extending brushseat in said body, a radially removable'reversible brush element in saidseat extended therefrom and including a rigid backand brush `bristlespositioned therein,- rigid downwardly extending abutments on the bottomof said back spaced unequally from the longitudinal midpointV of saidback, rigid abutments on the bottom of said brush seat extendingtherein, spaced apart a distance ment.

equal to the spacing of said rst-mentioned abutments, and similarlyarranged relative to :the longitudinal center of said seat, saidabutments on said back and on `said seat being adapted to make contactin one position of said brush in said seat torgive to said brush anincreased radial extension, and cooperating means on said body,including a spring-pressed detent, and in saidv element to retain saidelement in saidseat.

3. A rotary agitator for a suction cleaner cornprising a cylindricalbody adapted for rotation about .its major axis, a reentrant brush seatin said body, a radially removable reversible brush element in said'seatextended therefrom and including a rigid back and brush bristlespositioned therein, cooperating rigid integral abutment elements on thebottom of said seat and said back arranged to be in alignment and incontact in one position of said element in said seat and out ofalignment and contact in a reversed position of said element in saidseat to give to said brush different radial extensions in the reversedpositions, rigid shoulders at one end of said seat at a plurality ofheights therein, rigid shoulders at the opposite ends of said back atdifferent heights thereon and adapted to cooperate selectively with saidseat shoulders in the reversed positions, and resilient means at theopposite end of said brush seat adapted to overlie the adjacent end ofsaid back and cooperate with said seat shoulders in securing said brushagainst outward displace- VERNONv E. CARLSON.

